The Hardest Mountain Bike Race in the Dolomites!

The Dolomites. High mountains, clean air, clear lakes and fantastic scenery. We found all of these things AND great strudel in Villabassa/Niederdorf when we went there in July to take part in the 15th Sudtirol Dolmiti Superbike 2009. It’s a strange feeling being geographically in Italy but feeling like you’re really in Austria or Germany! From the germanic architecture, to the excellent facilities at the campsite, the abundance of cycle paths and the local ‘foreign’ accents...it felt like a long way from Catania!

We got up early on the morning of the 12th July, the race started punctually at 7.30am from the town square and myself and Elena set off together but were quickly swallowed up in the mass of riders on the uphill. It was marvelous to look up ahead and see the snake of riders winding up the hills of the first part of the race. It gave an idea of just how big the Dolomiti Superbike is and it felt great to be part of that. As it was the first time for both myself and Elena to take part in a race outside of Sicily, we were both excited and nervous beforehand, not really knowing what to expect. We needn’t have worried, the track was brilliant, the views were breathtaking and the race was AMAZING!

After 14km the race track split in two and I took the track for the 60.5km race as planned, unlike our adventurous teammate, Umberto, who opted for the slightly longer 115.5km track!! I still don’t know if he’s courageous or crazy, but either way he finished the race and enjoyed himself in the process. The going was fast and myself and Elena caught up with each other further on over a quickly-eaten piece of crostata and a mouthful of coke at one of the rest stops before the 7km climb to Prato Piazza. We got lots of supporting ‘hup, hups’ from the onlookers along the way and it was really good to reach the top and know that it was more or less downhill from there!

At that point we were on familiar territory as we had cycled part of the track the day before the race. So, cycling fast past cows, farmhouses and pensione that looked like Heidi’s house, we finally came back into Villabassa where we had started from and suddenly it was all over. What a feeling! We were on a high! We both finished within our target times and happily celebrated with water melon and ice tea at the finish line. Later we had a free massage and caught up with the rest of the team when they had finished the long race and we all swapped stories over big slices of apple strudel! I think I might be hooked on ‘The Dolomiti experience’ .....so roll on Dolomiti Superbike 2010